Pocahontas: A Tale of Love and Discovery

The New World In the movie The New World, British explores land in Virginia in 1607. Captain John Smith is captured by natives of the land but his life is spared thanks to the tribe’s chief’s daughter, Pocahontas. Later on in the video Pocahontas falls madly in love with John Smith. To Pocahontas’s dismay John Smith was sent back to England to recover from a burn after a gunpowder explosion and also to face accusations of misconduct. Later in life Pocahontas meets John Rolfe and marries him along with have his child. John Rolfe brings Pocahontas back to England with him so she may meet the royalties. Once they arrive Pocahontas come to a cruel reality that John Smith is actually alive. This caused a complication between which man she wanted to be in her and her son’s life. While reading this essay you will learn about Pocahontas’s early life as a child, her life while married to John Rolfe, and her voyage to England.

Pocahontas grew up as one of her father’s favorite children although she didn’t live a carefree life as many people think princesses do. Pocahontas learned how to forage for food, and and build houses to help contribute to her tribe. Like many Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians of the period, Pocahontas most likely had several names, for use in various contexts. It is said that early in her life she was called Matoaka, but later was known as Amonute. The name Pocahontas was used in childhood as a nickname, which meant “playful one”, this was mostly likely in a casual or family context. Pocahontas met a man from the Jamestown civilization named John Smith, after she saved his life from execution. As Pocahontas was only 12 years old she became a frequent visitor at Jamestown, finding that John Smith was someone that she